A rendering shows the proposed new Las Vegas Municipal Courthouse, which the Molasky Group of Companies plans to develop southeast of Las Vegas City Hall. The proposed project cost is up to $56.2 million, funded with a combination of cash and bonds. (City of Las Vegas)

The Las Vegas City Council threw unanimous support Wednesday behind a plan to spend up to $56 million on a new downtown municipal courthouse.

The council approved a nonbinding project term sheet with The Molasky Group of Companies to develop a courthouse on nearly an acre on Clark Avenue near City Hall and the Regional Justice Center, where the city’s municipal courts are currently housed.

But council discussion included concerns about future growth and indicated the building could grow beyond the proposed 139,431-square-foot courthouse.

“It would be hard to look back and we didn’t prepare enough for the growth and the caseload and the specialty courts,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said. “It seems we’re forever saying ‘why didn’t we do this? We need more space.’”

Adding a floor to the current building would allow for more courtroom space, and would be cheaper than expanding the building to the west when the need arises, Molasky officials said.

“Is it smarter to spend more money now, to shell out more now?” Councilman Bob Coffin asked. “The town is not going to get any smaller. Crime isn’t going to stop.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how much the courthouse price tag would grow if the building size increases, but the council must also approve a project development agreement for the work to proceed.

The current courthouse includes 30 on-site parking spaces. Additional parking will be available at the city’s Main Street garage, roughly a block west of the proposed courthouse site.

The council also unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with Clark County that provides for the county buying the city out of its lease at the Regional Justice Center, to pave the way for the new courthouse.

Councilman Stavros Anthony called the run at the Regional Justice Center, which kicked off with cost overruns and delays, a “rough patch.”

“I’m kind of glad we’re getting out of there,” Anthony said.

The city will fund the project in part using dollars from the county buying the city out of its lease at the RJC, and issue bonds to finance the remainder of the project. The new courthouse is slated to be finished by Jan. 4, 2021.

As part of the deal with the county, city officials agreed for the next decade to not attempt annexation of 1,000 acres of unincorporated county land that sits within the city’s bounds, unless property owners pursue annexation.

Las Vegas officials faced significant pushback this year when they sought to absorb 872 acres of unincorporated county land, and the effort ultimately failed.

• Clark County will pay the city a $23.5 million down payment and four $1.35 million installments between 2021 and 2024 to buy the city out of its lease at the Regional Justice Center.

• The city’s municipal courts would vacate the RJC by July 1, 2021, if the new municipal courthouse is completed by then. Otherwise, the city could continue to lease its space there for $189,748 monthly for another year. If the Las Vegas Municipal Courts aren’t out of the RJC by June 30, 2022, the city will owe the county $569,244 monthly for each month it continues to occupy space there.

• City officials agree not to annex roughly 1,000 acres of unincorporated Clark County land within city boundaries, unless property owners there want their property to be annexed into the city. Included in that area is 872 acres the city tried and failed to annex earlier this year. Roughly 8,900 acres of “county islands” exist inside Las Vegas city bounds.

• Clark County officials agree not to spearhead any new annexation legislation unless city officials agree.

Educators dressed in red have taken to the streets to demand more for their students.

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Nature Conservancy Ranch

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Swift water rescue at Durango Wash in Las Vegas

On Thursday, February 14, 2019, at approximately 8:42 a.m., the Clark County Fire Department responded to a report of a swift water incident where people were trapped in the Durango wash which is located near 8771 Halcon Ave. Personnel found one person who was trapped in the flood channel. The individual was transported to the hospital in stable condition. Video by Clark County Fire & Rescue.

Flooding at E Cheyenne in N. Las Vegas Blvd.

Quick Weather Around the Strip

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Tristan Groom, 15, and his brother Jade Gaastra, 23, speak out on their experiences as former students of Northwest Academy in Amargosa Valley, which includes abuse by staff and excessive medication.

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Group helping stranded motorists during power outage

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The third annual Women’s March in Las Vegas

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First former felon to work for Nevada Department of Corrections

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Gov. Steve Sisolak signs SB143 on background checks into law in Nevada.

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Harry Reid talks life, politics

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Snow blankets Nevada’s capital

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Journalists often crowd the White House briefing room expecting the latest news, but now the news is that many of the reporters are expecting.
Steve Holland: “There’s such a baby boom going on in the White House Press Corps that we are always on standby for delivering a baby if necessary.”
CBS’s Weijia Jiang. New York Post’s Marisa Schultz. The Washington Post’s Ashley Parker. Newsday’s Laura Figueroa.
They’re just a few of the White House correspondents who are with child or who recently gave birth.
Five more members of the White House Press Corps. delivered babies during Trump’s first two years: NPR’s Tamara Keith, CNN’s Pamela Brown, Fox News’ Kristin Fisher, CGTN’s Jessica Stone and NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe.
Others are shy of publicity or not yet showing.
But what’s behind this different kind of trump bump?
For one, the moms-to-be are professional women whose careers are in a secure moment as they feel their biological clocks ticking.
Another factor: political timing and family planning. There’s a short window between the 2016 and 2020 election cycles.
Then there’s the matter that being a political journalist is stressful, and, well, certain activities can help alleviate that stress.
Being pregnant in the White House briefing room definitely doesn’t make the job any easier, though.
There are just 49 seats – and it’s not as if competitors are quick to offer up their coveted chairs. At one point, Ronica Cleary tweeted she was “less than enthusiastic about the nature of a room full of people who avoid offering a seat to a woman who is 371/2 weeks pregnant.”
Even the press offices behind the press room are cramped.
With the baby boom, the Christian Broadcasting Network’s small office now doubles as a breast bumping room.
One journalist made headlines when she announced her pregnancy with an apparent jab at the president.
Weijia Jiang’s baby bump was showing at a September press conference.
When President Trump told her to “sit down,” she tweeted she couldn’t wait to teach her child that “when a man orders you to sit down because he doesn’t like what you’re saying, do anything but.”

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